Comparing Effectiveness of Two Scaling Methods: Hand and Ultrasonic Instruments in Patients with Periodontitis Disease

Abstract

Objectives: Treatment of periodontal disease is done by removal of biofilm via two scaling methods (hand and ultrasonic instruments). This study intended to compare the effectiveness of these methods by measuring the bleeding on probing (BOP) and clinical attachment loss. Methods: Thirty patients were participated in the study and divided into the control (scaling by hand instruments) and test groups (scaling by ultrasonic instruments). The mean age of the participants in the control group was 32.2 ± 4.5 years and in the test group was 31.9 ± 5.2 years. Effectiveness of two scaling methods was evaluated by measurement of periodontal pocket depth (PPD) and BOP. The results were compared after treatment for two months and analyzed by descriptive statistics, Mann- Whitney U test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results: The mean of PPD changed from 5.8 ± 0.4 to 3.1± 1.1mm (P> 0.05) in the test group and from 5.4 ± 0.3 to 4.2 ±1.5 mm (P>0.05) in the control group. The mean value of BOP decreased from 95% at baseline to 20% after two months (P>0.05) in the test group and from 95% at baseline to 40% after two months (P>0.05) in the control group. Conclusion: Scaling methods in two PPD ranges (1≤PPD≥ 3 and 3 < PPD < 5) had the same effect, however in PPD ≥ 5, the effect of ultrasonic treatment to reduce the amount of PPD and BOP in the test group was higher than that in the control group which manually scaled the tooth surfaces.